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Iron Brew

Ireland took to the pitch with a quintet of debutants, among them, Ronan O’Gara and Peter Stringer (airborne above), hoping to break a 12-year-long record of defeats.

The victory would usher in a golden era for Irish rugby.

Gerry Thornely, in the following Monday’s Irish Times, wrote:

And with one bound, Ireland were free. Just like that. It’s amazing what a bit of pace and variation, a bit of old-fashioned aggression and a little of confidence and luck can bring. But what a day, what a metamorphosis.

It was scarcely credible really. The sun shone for once gloriously on this normally overcast fixture, Lansdowne Road rediscovered its spirit and even the singing was good.